It Costs How Much?! Seminar & Book Club, Part One
What: It Costs How Much?!
Who: PNWFC Membership
Where: Online via Zoom
When: August 17, 2026 at 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Why: We’ve all been there: perusing our local yarn shop (or big box store), touching yarn, thinking about all the sweaters we’d like to knit. Is there more to the story than the yarn in our hands? Turns out, there’s a lot more to the story.
In this event, part seminar and part book club opener, you’ll learn about some incredible elements of how local yarn gets to you and why it feels “expensive.”
“$45 for a pair of socks?!
$350 for a skirt?!
No way am I spending $35 on ONE skein of yarn when I can get 20 skeins of acrylic for $17.99 on Amazon…”
These are things we hear all the time and occasionally even think ourselves! In this seminar, we will discuss some of the reasons things are the way they are, how they changing, and choices we can make as consumers that directly impact our regional fiber farmers, mills, artisans, and yarn shops.
What does it take to get from sheep to sweater? Learn about the process from shearing to yarn in the PNW.
How do producers, mills, and yarn shops all have to consider pricing and profit margins? Why are local yarns often priced higher than imported yarns?
What does it really mean to buy local yarn, and does it matter economically?
We will begin this session introducing the title to the first book in our pilot book club series and it’s relevance on the topic of supply chain issues. The session will end with a discussion on principles — how and where to purchase values-aligned yarn in order to support small businesses and/or regional production & manufacturing.